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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29124957">spooks</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/haljordangreenjedi/pseuds/haljordangreenjedi'>haljordangreenjedi</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>the spooksverse [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batman - All Media Types, Green Lantern - All Media Types, Justice League - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bruce Is a Good Bro, Bruce Wayne is Good at Feelings, Gen, Hal Has Issues, Hal Jordan Needs A Hug, theres literally nothing i can tag this as that wouldn't be a spoiler</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 05:47:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,008</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29124957</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/haljordangreenjedi/pseuds/haljordangreenjedi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Hal Jordan is on the brink of death, again. He decides that it's time to share some mundane truths. Bruce isn't sure what to do with that.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Barry Allen &amp; Hal Jordan, Hal Jordan &amp; Bruce Wayne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>the spooksverse [1]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2215383</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>89</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>spooks</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“He compared me to his cat.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“His cat?” Flash questioned him, pulling his scarlet cowl off his head, like that would somehow allow him to see the truth lurking in the strange case before him as Bruce explained.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The man in question grunted affirmation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Uh, Bats I hate to be the one to tell you, but Hal never had a cat growing up. His mom was not the pet-keeping kind of parent.” Flash explained carefully, like there was some delicate truth hidden in the words that couldn’t be exposed to the air on its own.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>*****</span>
</p><p>
  <span>And wasn’t that odd, because Bruce could remember the conversation as vividly as the slick feel of blood as the Green Lantern’s legs gave out and he’d surged forward before the tall man could make full, brutal acquaintance with the ground.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Heh, Spooks.” Hal had laughed like there was some joke that Bruce hadn’t been let in on, “Your… I call you Spooks. I had a cat called Spooks.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bruce, admittedly, had been more focused on the wound, centralized somewhere between Hal’s belly button and his left iliac crest. It was still gurgling blood, and he could hear the drag in the other man’s lungs, one that echoed pain and blood loss. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>They needed a medevac, soon. The Green Lantern would not be finishing this fight. Although, from the sounds of it, Clark and Diana had it well in hand with the help of the other heroes while he was here, tending to their ally.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He was...little. Grams always said he ran off in the woods, t’eat moles ‘n shit and roam the mountain.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bruce looked up to note that the mask had faded away, and the electrifying fabric of Hal’s lantern suit seemed to be flickering in and out with the flutter of his eyelashes against his cheek. Bruce felt his hand that wasn’t pushing, clamping, struggling in the world’s most convoluted battle of wills against Hal’s blood that was rushing to meet the world reach up and tap the other man against the face. Once, twice, three times until the hazel of his irises was once again visible.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Stay awake, Jordan.” he’d growled.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“The first Spooks had a better sense of fuckin’ humor, you know.” Hal’s eyes had been cast upward, like he was searching the sky. For the enemy, or Superman, or something from a long time ago, Bruce would never know.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“How could a </span>
  <em>
    <span>cat</span>
  </em>
  <span> have a better sense of humor, Lantern?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Suddenly the hazel eyes were on Bruce, piercing through the armor, cutting away the layers of pain and history, leaving only the boy from the alley. It was discerning, that a man like Hal Jordan could achieve such a look, especially while bleeding out all over the concrete.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maybe Bruce had been wrong in his assessments of Hal’s character, maybe there was more than what meets the eye and could be read in a baseline service jacket. The military </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> known for hiding most of what made up its men and women between the lines of its Officer Evaluation Reports, and Hal’s have only read of an ace pilot with more backbone than the job strictly required.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“He knew when the right time was to just fuck off and die,” a hand, no longer clad in the white glove of the lantern uniform, gently pried Bruce’s gauntlet covered ones from his side.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Grams told me the last time I saw her, at like, fourteen, when Jessica finally pissed her off enough that she ran us off. Dumb cat was neutered, got an infection, and just fuckin’ died. Too stupid of a cat for anyone but me to really give a shit. Think I’ll follow his lead, Spooks.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hal’s eyes closed completely, and Bruce registered that he was screaming when Diana pulled him off the fallen pilot. His jaw snapped shut, and he watched as Clark gathered Hal -- he was in a flight suit, had he been at work when they’d all gotten pulled into this shit show? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Bruce had no clue how often the man flew, or how he managed to maintain a return to service like he did. Wasn’t membership to one militant entity enough? </span>
  <em>
    <span>No.</span>
  </em>
  <span> He knew enough from his research, Hal had been raised as the brat of an Air Force pilot. There was no other way for him to really invoke Martin Jordan’s memory without joining up. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Hours later, Hal Jordan was in recovery, post-surgery to stitch his insides back together and </span>
  <em>
    <span>keep them on the inside,</span>
  </em>
  <span> and Barry Allen, arguably the man that knew him best in the world, was telling Bruce that Hal had never had a cat. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Which, to an extent, was true. Jessica and Martin Jordan had never bought their son a cat, never gave him much more than a hard time and some swift beatings, if Bruce’s files were telling the truth. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>Maggie Trevor Jordan, though, was Hal’s paternal grandmother, and she had outlived both the man she married, and the son she raised, and had always been known to have an affinity for taking in strays. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>It fit the story, all contact between Maggie and her daughter-in-law had been cut off when Hal was fourteen years old, and Bruce knew that if anyone had ever allowed Hal to have any sort of pet, Maggie Jordan would have been the one. He closed out his files, content in the knowledge that perhaps there was more to Hal Jordan than even his closest friends knew. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>A day later, Hal swam up to consciousness because of the presence of a small, warm weight on his chest. When he opened his eyes, it was to meet the luminescent green pair of a tiny black kitten.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>His hand automatically reached up to scratch it behind the ears, and he caught sight of a tiny green collar, bearing the name </span>
  <em>
    <span>Spooks Jordan Jr.</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  <span>Hal lifted his eyes just in time to see the door of the infirmary swing closed on a black cape. He hoped his apartment building was cool with cats.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>fun fact: spooks was a real cat, and I loved him.<br/>not so fun fact: I'm actually allergic to cats, so there will be no spooks jr.<br/>BUT, Hal can have a spooks jr for me : )</p><p>Leave a comment! Let me know what you think!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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